


End of the Line

by SurpassingMorning



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Ambiguous Survival, Angst, F/M, Gen, Possible Character Death, Slight fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 14:54:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13250583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SurpassingMorning/pseuds/SurpassingMorning
Summary: Jason knew they’d get caught eventually - he’s known it for a while now.





	End of the Line

**Author's Note:**

> My Secret Santa for dorky-hufflepuff over on tumblr. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> It's a tad late //sweats

Jason knew they’d get caught eventually - he’s known it for a while now.

Their gang had gotten too big and thinned out over the past two years for him and Reyna to properly control; Jason isn’t even sure if ‘gang’ was an appropriate title - syndicate seems more appropriate now. That botched job at the Smithsonian by some rogue members and a schism (led by a certain power-hungry defector) had only accelerated their decline as well. Reyna had had them retreat back to their old base in Berkeley to escape the heat, but it was only delaying the inevitable.

Jason slumps down a grimy brick wall, ignoring the throbbing coming from his left side. Wailing sirens pierce the night sky, making his ears throb. His vision’s a messy blur of black and brown and grey now, and he’s sure his lungs are burning.

They’d get caught, of course, but Jason never thought that they’d get caught while doing a ‘simple’ robbery. They had been so close to stopping too - they had only robbed that bank to get enough money to go into a better hiding place. But someone must have tipped them off (and Jason’s pretty sure he knows who did), and the police arrived in swarms. They had been forced to split up after that - Jason wonders if they made it out alright.

Piper kneels down beside him, her eyes wide and fearful. She props him up with her backpack, half-filled with stolen cash, and begins frantically digging through her pockets.

“Just a little longer, Jason,” she says between deep breaths. “Leo’s coming with a car soon.”

The only thing she’s able to produce is a crumpled up tissue and a small bit of gauze, which Jason doubts is going to help with his wound much. Blood is flowing out like a river now, and Jason’s not to sure if he’s going to make it. He takes a deep breath.

“Piper,” he says. “I’m not going to make it.”

Piper’s eyes widen. “D-don’t say that,” she splutters. “You’re going to make it. We’ll get you to Vitellius soon. I promise.”

Jason laughs, sending wave after wave of pain through his body. “I knew it would end like this,” he confesses. “Maybe not bleeding out in an alleyway, but something like it. Ever since we first formed this gang.”

“Can’t you be more optimistic?” Piper forces a laugh as she tries to staunch the flow with gauze. It half works, but the gauze is soaking up the blood quickly, meaning it’d fall off soon. “Think...think of the better times.”

She’s humoring him now. It’s probably a distraction from the inevitable, he thinks, but he appreciates it all the more.

“I could. You remember how this all started, don’t you?” he asks. When he closes his eyes, he can almost hear the buzz of low chattering and glasses clinking, smell the smoke wafting around the room and see the night stars.

“It was at a party,” Piper states. “You were there, and Leo and Reyna too. Our parents bought us there, right?”

“Yeah.” Jason winces as he shifts a little, and Piper has to hold him down. He tries to remember what exactly they had said that led to all this, but words and faces began to blur. “We were so innocent back then.”

“Were we? I stole that BMW before we met, remember?” Piper reminds him. As soon as the words leave her mouth, she blushes.

Jason furrows his eyebrows. Piper had told him that once, he thinks, while they were on a bus to Phoenix for...he couldn’t remember if it was a job or a date anymore. But he remembers Piper had been embarrassed when she told him, so he never brought it up again.

“I r-remember,” he says. It almost hurts to think now. “It’s been a while since you told me.”

“I’m kind of glad you never brought it up again,” Piper admits.

A heavy silence hangs over them, punctured only by their deep and shaky breaths. Unsure of what to do, Jason watches as the blood begin to soak the pavement. Everything hurts, but he doesn’t want to worry Piper even more, so Jason grits his teeth and says nothing.

_SCREEEEEEEEH! ___

__

__Instinctively, Jason sits up and immediately regrets it. Though he’s doubling over in pain, trying to breath, he can see flashes of lights, and he knows what’s up._ _

____

Leo’s here.

____

A window rolls down, and Leo calls out, “Come with me if you wanna live, guys!” He’s only half-joking.

____

Piper wastes no time scrambling to her feet. She slips an arm around Jason, and hauls him to his feet. Stars explode in his vision, turning into static then spots. Somehow, he still has enough coherence in him to say, “The money, too.”

____

“Who cares about the money?” she almost snaps. “You’re hurt!”

____

“Jason’s gotta point, though,” Leo points out. “How’re we going to pay the doc if we’ve got no cash? We’re pretty much broke, Piper.”

____

Piper stops for half a second before sighing. “Alright. Leo? Could you get the money, please?”

____

“On it, Pipes.”

____

All Jason can do is not black out as Piper tries to gently help him into the car. The leather is cold, he thinks, but better than the pavement. Piper climbs in after him and clutches his hand as if it were a lifeline.

____

“Hold on, Jason,” she says as Leo starts driving again. “We’re so close.”

____

Jason nods weakly. But he isn’t sure anymore if Piper’s trying to convince him, or herself.

____


End file.
